Little Problems
|Season = 5 |Antagonist = Tharon |Setting = Greece |In-Universe Date = Year 4 |Production # = V0913 |Filming Dates = 26 August to 3 September 1999 |Original Air-Date = |Written By = Gregg Ostrin |Story By = |Teleplay By = |Directed By = Allison Liddi |Order in Series = 98 of 134 |Order in Season = 8 of 22 |Order in Franchise= 267 of 304 |Prev Episode in Series = "Back in the Bottle" |Next Episode in Series = "Seeds of Faith" |Prev Episode in Franchise = "Full Circle" |Next Episode in Franchise = "Seeds of Faith" |title cap image = }} Aphrodite inadvertently puts Xena's soul inside that of a dying child, Daphne. Aphrodite and Gabrielle must find a way to restore them, while Xena helps Daphne work through some of her issues. Unfortunately, yet another warlord wants revenge on Xena. Summary Aphrodite invites charity in her temple so that more people will pay her tribute. A little girl named Daphne is in a coma there when Xena and Gabrielle arrive. When Aphrodite mentions that she will likely not make it, Xena inadvertently wishes to take her place which leads to a mix-up. Aphrodite tries to switch Xena and the girl's places but instead puts Xena's soul into Daphne. Daphne wakes up, only to realize that Xena is inside her when she finds her face in a mirror. Her father arrives, overjoyed that his daughter is awake, and he takes her (and Xena) home. Gabrielle and Aphrodite team up to hide Xena's body while they find a cure which is all the more crucial as Aphrodite admits that her blunder could result in Xena permanently residing in the girl's body if her soul is not returned to her correct body within twenty-four hours. Meanwhile, the masked warlord Tharon is sending out men lead by Sandor to find Xena. Gabrielle fights off a whole attack squad of them with a makeshift whip lit on fire in order to protect Xena's body. After the squad runs off, Aphrodite is asked to seal the cave which she does even though she indignantly points out that her magic was not wanted earlier. Gabrielle figures out that Castor and Pollux, the owners of a club Aphrodite keeps blabbering on about are twins with a special oil that allow them to divide their souls into individual bodies. Aphrodite and Gabrielle disguise themselves as twins in order to get into the club where they eventually wrestle the brothers in an oil filled wrestling ring (or rather, Gabrielle wrestles – Aphrodite has a rather different experience) to obtain the special oil they were after. While all this is happening, the girl Daphne, and Xena, both in the same body work through problems at home. Daphne's mother recently died and her father won't say much to her. Daphne suspects her dad doesn't love her and questions how her mother died. Xena helps encourage Daphne to talk to her father but it doesn't come easily. While fishing, she remembers that she fell in the water at that spot and would have drowned had her mother not saved her. Her mother drowned in the process, however. To make matters worse, when Xena takes control of Daphne's body to stop a runaway horse, Tharon's men suspect the reality of the situation and turn their focus towards capturing the girl. To achieve their goal, they capture Daphne's father who is thrown into a dungeon. Daphne/Xena, Gabrielle, and Aphrodite all join up to get the father back and reunite Xena's soul and body. Aphrodite is charged with bringing Xena's body to Tharon's castle and Xena and Gabrielle break the girl's father out of prison. At this point, Daphne and her father finally talk and realize they both believed the other blamed them for the mother's death. When they both admit this not to be the case, they move on. Before escaping the castle completely, though, Tharon challenges Xena who is still in Daphne's body. Xena wins and Tharon falls off the castle ramparts. Castor's oil is used on Xena and she is finally returned to her body while the girl is reunited in earnest with her father and their relationship couldn't show more promise. Disclaimer No Pie Tins were harmed during the making of Tharon's mask. Background Information Behind the Scenes * Shooting Dates: '''August 26 to September 3, 1999 (7-day shoot). * This was the 11th episode to be filmed, but aired as the 8th episode of season 5, most likely due to Lucy getting less screen-time while pregnant and needing backup episodes which featured less Xena. * Alexandra Tydings talked about girl power in the making of this episode with (Titan: The Official XENA Magazine, Issue #7 – June 2000) ''“I’ve heard other people say that Hercules was a much more male-dominated set and Xena was a more female-dominated set. But the only time I ever really felt that way was when we made… this episode. Allison Liddi was directing the episode and another woman was the First A.D. assistant director, and the set was full of women in power. I really, really had a ball on this show!” '' * In '''The Chakram' Newsletter: #10', Renee O’Connor stated that if it wasn't for Lucy's pregnancy, she wouldn't have been able to have the opportunity to do all the fights in this episode. "It’s been a real treat… horns with Aphrodite was an accident. It was very amusing for us. It was all I could do to keep a straight face and get through the scene. I didn’t think they would use it. I was just so pleased we carried on. A lot of times, when things like that happen, actors stop. It was so fun to make ourselves get through the scene. I’m glad they used it.” * This was the last episode filmed before the winter production hiatus and the last to be filmed while Lucy was pregnant and went on maternity leave for 9 weeks. Key Events *Excluding the "uber" episodes set in the future, this episode marks the fourth time that Xena has inhabited someone else's body. Trivia *'Chakram Count': 1 # To stun a number of Tharon's men. *Castor's oil is a play on "castor oil," a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean. *In this episode, Castor and Pollux appear as Zeus' mighty conjoined twins. However, in Young Hercules, the prequel to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, in which the twins appear, Castor and Pollux are not conjoined and Castor was murdered by Zeus' psychotic demigod son, Lucius. *Castor and Pollux speak to Gabrielle and Aphrodite in Swedish (making a vulgar proposition), a language neither of the ladies speaks or understands. When Aphrodite-playing along-compliments the two boys on their accent, one of the boys replies "Yes, we pride ourselves on being cunning-linguists" (double-entendre intended). Links and References Guest Stars *Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite *Rose McIver as Daphne *Wade Taylor as Castor *Scott Taylor as Pollux *Peter Feeney as Tharon *Colin Moy as Galantis *Stephen Finch as Sandor References People Gods Places Other Season Navigation de:Daphne (Episode) Category:XWP Season 5 episodes Category:Episodes Featuring Aphrodite